DEPUTY DAIRIUS SMITH HONORED AS OFFICER OF THE YEAR

  

Washington County Sheriffs Deputy Dairius Smith received the Brenham V.F.W. Post 7104 Officer of the Year Award for the Washington County Sheriff's Office during a ceremony last week.  Below is the letter from Sheriff Otto Hanak nominating Smith for the award:

V.F.W. Officer of the Year Recognition

Sheriff Otto Hanak is proud to nominate Deputy Dairius Smith as the Veterans of Foreign War Officer of the Year for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Smith was born in Brenham in 1992, attended local schools and graduated from Brenham High in 2011.

In 2014, Deputy Smith became a member of the Washington County Sheriff's Office “Citizens on Patrol” (COPS) where he assisted in providing the county with services consisting of traffic direction at civic events, motor vehicle accidents, and other events supported by the Sheriff’s office.  He later became a field trainer for the COP program.  During his time with the COPS, he earned the respect of the others while working tirelessly on COP projects and events while continuing to pursue a career in law enforcement.

In January of 2015, Deputy Smith attended and graduated from the Wharton Jr. College Police Academy, paying his own way, and was hired by the Washington County Sheriff's Office in May of 2015 as a Patrol Deputy. During his time with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Smith has earned the respect of his co-workers to the degree that he was nominated by his peers for this award.

Deputy Smith has excelled in job knowledge, was named and received training as a Field Training Officer for new employees.  Deputy Smith commonly displays courtesy, professionalism and leadership skills to all those he comes in contact with daily and is a strong asset to the citizens of our county.

Even though Deputy Smith holds a basic peace officer license, he has accumulated over 1,000 hours of law enforcement training in just a few short years, another indication of his perseverance and desire to become a very well educated and trained law enforcement officer.

Early this year, due to his interaction and assistance provided to the Washington County Sheriff's Office Citizens on Patrol staff, Deputy Smith received their Officer of the Year award.

I proudly nominate Deputy Dairius Smith for Officer of the Year presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Respectfully,

Otto H. Hanak, Sheriff